


In the Eyes of the Inferno

by livsagna



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Serial: s054 Inferno
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-05 04:24:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16360721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livsagna/pseuds/livsagna
Summary: They say, as you die, you see your life flash by your eyes.They don't say what eyes those are.They were the eyes of the Inferno.And in those eyes, another.A phoenix, rising from the ashes of the Inferno.





	In the Eyes of the Inferno

**_They say, as you die, you see your life flash by your eyes._  
**

****Grey. That’s what this world was. Grey, and dying. Director Stahlman had a plan to change that, a new energy source, something that could bring the British Republic further glory and revitalize the drab world. The Brigade Leader didn’t allow himself to hope, he never did. But he thought maybe one day, he could. Maybe one day, the sun would shine again.

Of course, he never voiced his thoughts, because that would be treason. And Brigade Leader Lethbridge-Stewart was many things, but treasonous certainly wasn’t one of them. So he stopped thinking altogether, and followed orders. Life was easy.

Then came a man. He called himself Doctor John Smith, no doubt a fake name, but he went by the Doctor. The Doctor knew who he was, knew who all of them were. The Doctor was mad, and dangerous too. The Brigade Leader had him locked up without a second thought. Second thoughts, after all, were treason.

The Doctor did not try to reason with him, he saw how set in stone the Brigade Leader was. He didn’t suspect what the man didn’t dare to hope for at night, and the Brigade Leader did not allow himself to entertain the possibility that the Doctor could accomplish anything. He just sent him to be executed, like the rest. Like another used napkin thrown in the trash. Because that’s all the Brigade Leader was, at the end of the day. A nameless trash can in the twisting machine of the British Republic.

The Brigade Leader didn’t feel pain anymore, not in the way everyone else did. Not since he had lost his eye. The betrayal of his friend, his partner, the man he had trusted, had stung more than the loss of an eye. After his wound healed, he had been the one to personally execute ex-soldier Mike Yates. That day still haunted him, but it had taught him a valuable lesson. Trust no one.

So when Section Leader Shaw shot him in the back, the Brigade Leader wasn’t really surprised. For one, he hadn’t had the time to feel anything, any emotion. But also, after losing his eye, he had been sure to keep both eyes open, metaphorically speaking. He had seen the shot coming from a mile away. And the best he could do to save his country was to die. So, resigned to his fate, that’s exactly what the Brigade Leader did. His death was one final act, an unpunishable act of treason. And in dying, he hoped that others may live.

_**They don't say what eyes those are.** _

Platoon Underleader Benton was lost to the transformation, undying, but as the animal took over, he reflected on the choices he had made. The choices that had brought him there.  

Joining the RSF had seemed, at the time, to be a wonderful idea. The propaganda had taken hold of his mind, and filled with images of fame, glory, and _money_ , he had gladly enlisted in the military, electing not to pursue higher education. He soon saw how horrible the world was, and had constantly choked back his feelings. Had he shown any sign of regret, he would have been executed. That’s what they did to anyone who showed signs of doubt, a fact Benton knew all too well.

His first time on a firing squad had been the hardest. Killing just got easier every time he did it, but it never got _easy_. He hadn’t thought it ever would, but as he reeled back from the spray of a fire extinguisher, he knew he no longer had a say in the matter. As the mutated Benton reached out for the Brigade Leader, another memory hit him.

Benton, having been recently promoted, his first task to blow up a suspected rebel encampment. He knew everyone living there was innocent, and were victims of the harsh life imposed by the British Republic. Everyone knew. But no one said anything, because to acknowledge the facts was treason, and they were all too afraid.

Benton just did his job. Always, he did his job. He was to provide protection to the people who would do the actual killing, though he knew that meant he would have to shoot anyone who tried to “fight back”, which really meant anyone who begged for their lives. Fixing his face into an expression of stony indifference, he took a deep breath.

After the assignment was done, he figured he would be in trouble. He had refused to shoot the children, letting them slip past and pretending he hadn’t seen. When he was called into the Brigade Leader’s office, he was certain a firing squad awaited him. But Lethbridge-Stewart gave him a promotion instead—as it turned out, his commander hadn’t seen what he had done, or at least was turning a blind eye, and was rewarding him for the other memorable act he had done, which was to pull him out of the way of certain death. Even the Brigade Leader wasn’t invulnerable, Benton had learned.

That time, Benton had been glad to be reaching for his superior officer. This time, he felt a rush of dread. But the freezing blast of the CO₂ hit him once more, and brought cold relief as he recoiled from the white-haired man wielding the fire extinguisher. The Doctor. Benton didn’t like him, was sure he was a traitor, but in that moment he was thankful. Because even though Benton wouldn’t make it out alive, the Doctor seemed bent on making sure everyone else, including the Brigade Leader, did. And that was enough for Platoon Underleader Benton.

He died in the fire, with hate raging through his bones. Hate, and hope. 

**_They were the eyes of the Inferno._ **

He had called her Liz.

She hadn’t been called Liz since she was in college, her hair lighter, her soul happier. She had been studying physics under the watchful eyes of her professors, until her world had come to a crashing halt.

But, for some reason, he had called her Liz.  

She didn’t believe his story at all. Not at first, at least. Section Leader Shaw was a practical woman, who didn’t believe in fairytales. She didn’t think the Brigade Leader was right, either, but she didn’t say anything. She stayed silent, and did her job, because she was Section Leader Shaw. Not Liz.

Time passes. The world ends. He doesn’t call her Liz.

She shoots the Brigade Leader anyway. She can’t save this world, can’t save herself. But maybe she can save the Doctor. Maybe she can save the other world. Maybe she can save Liz.

The Brigade Leader falls. The Doctor goes, and he vanishes. And Section Leader Shaw faces the lava. It burns. Liz dies in a world on fire, knowing she did the right thing. She couldn’t have saved herself, it was too late for that and the world had been dead long before Stahlman’s project began. But there was a chance that the other world could still live.

He had called her Liz, and that was how she died. As Liz. Not as Section Leader Shaw. Saving the world, not destroying it. She was Liz.

_**And in those eyes, another.** _

Brigade Leader. Not Brigadier. The other Lethbridge-Stewart was cold, but the Doctor had seen colder. At least this Lethbridge-Stewart hadn’t killed an entire species. Yet. The Doctor had no doubt he would, if given the chance, even if that species were the human race.

He didn’t spare the Brigade Leader a second glance, didn’t see the briefest of brief glimmers of hope in the man’s eyes before duty crushed even that.

He focused on Liz. His friend. Even in this twisted universe, surely Elizabeth Shaw could still see reason enough to help him, could save the world. But she wasn’t Liz, she wasn’t even Elizabeth. She was Section Leader Shaw. And Section Leader Shaw was just another pawn in this twisted world, following orders given by the Brigade Leader, who got his orders from someone else, who undoubtedly was just following their orders.

Section Leader Shaw was just a pawn, but she was smart enough to think for herself. The Doctor tried to get through to her. He didn’t fail.  

If Liz was a pawn, then Benton was worse. He never thought for himself. The Doctor didn’t pause to wonder why. Perhaps, if he had, he would have found someone willing to listen to what he had to say. But before he spared Benton another thought, the soldier had fallen, a beast taking his place.

Petra, Sutton, and Stahlman had hardly changed between the universes. If the Doctor had just met them, he might not have even noticed anything was wrong. He ignored them all.

Liz was the one he needed. If he had his Liz by his side, he was sure the situation would already be resolved. She was good at things like that, and a very capable woman altogether. The Doctor realized that maybe, he should tell her that. She wasn’t too pompous, or self-opinionated, so it probably wouldn’t go to her head.

But Section Leader Shaw seemed insistent on following the Brigade Leader to the end of the Earth. The Doctor noted that, and concluded that it would be impossible to reason with her. He couldn’t take them with him, so there was no way they would help him.

He hadn’t counted on a friendship spanning universes, and he hadn’t supposed that once Liz—not Section Leader Shaw, _Liz_ —got to the end of the Earth, she may betray the Brigade Leader.  
  
Lethbridge-Stewart fell, and the Doctor went home, leaving a world to the flames that plagued it, that would destroy it. Leaving one world, but saving another. Saving Liz, _his_ Liz, and saving the Brigadier.

_**A phoenix, rising from the ashes of the Inferno.** _


End file.
